eBay

www-labels4less-com · ‎11-01-2003

Am I off my rocker for not accepting Canadian $ ? I list in U.S. and my banking is in the U.S. Once a month sometimes more, I get asked how much to pay in Canadian and I explain that I only take payment in U.S. funds.
Anyone else?

can-import · ‎11-01-2003

I do accept canadian funds, I use exchange rates on xe.com to tell people the amount they will have to send.

hdwrench1 · ‎11-01-2003

We will accept CDN funds but we use www.x-rates.com/calculator.html for conversion.
It is more up to date.

hdwrench1

jaymor8 · ‎11-01-2003

I don't see anything wrong with it, myself. The way I see it, if it isn't going into my paypal account, it makes no difference whatsoever what currency it is in. Of course, the exchange rate is pivotal but if it makes it easier and less expensive for them to send CDN, what the he//, right???

Sorry to be contrary, labels!!

Jackie...

amberwoodottawa · ‎11-01-2003

I'm somewhat confused about problems with Canadian $ going into PayPal. I have a Canadian $ account and a US $ acct with PayPal.

I advertise all my goods in US $ on eBay.

When I am paid in US funds, PayPal puts the US $ into my US $ PayPal account. When someone pays me in Canadian funds, PayPal puts the $ into my Canadian $ PayPal account. No exchange issues here.

When I take money out of PayPal, I transfer my US $ into a US account I have in New Jersey and I transfer my Canadian $ into my Canadian account in Canada.

There are no exchange issues at all.

With my US account, I have something called an ATM/Cheque Card that allows me to use it to take cash out at ATMs or use it as a VISA card or I can leave the US $ in that account which earns a nominal amount of interest or trasnfer it to short term investment vehicles all in US $.

I only get hit with exchange issues when I use the US $ ATM card to withdraw $ within Canada and even then it is at my bank's exchange rate which is as good as anyone will ever get for the most part.

Malcolm

jaymor8 · ‎11-01-2003

Mal - so for myself then, when someone pays me CDN into my Paypal and the conversion is done automatically, you're saying that this is costing me extra? Is it more conducive to have 2 accounts with them? Can you use the same Credit Card for both?

I am not the brightest spark, you know. BTW, my sweety will be contacting sometime today :))

Cheers, Jackie...

amberwoodottawa · ‎11-01-2003

Jackie
I give all my Canadian customers 2 options to pay me, either in US or Cdn funds and I calculate the cost and provide them the choice in an email, so it is at the exchange rate of my choice. By giving them the choice, they cant complain about the exchange rate I use as they can pay in US funds and perhaps get a better rate when purchasing a US money order. About 90% of my Canadian customers pay me in Canadian funds using the totals I give them.

I have found that the eBay rate (not PayPal) is fairly close to the going rate of exchange and more often than not, more in my favour so I will use that but I am free to use whatever exchange rate I wish, as long as I give the customer the choice of paying in Canadian or US and I only make that ption available to my Canadian customers.

When they pay using PayPal, the full Canadian $ amount I quoted them goes into my Candian $ PayPal account. There is no conversion of funds by PayPal. When I withdraw funds from my Canadian $ PayPal account, thoses funds are transferred into my Canadian bank account. Again no conversion of funds.

Each time I look at my PayPal account balances, I have 2 seperate accounts, one in Canadian finds and one in US funds. They do not convert anything unless I was making a purchase using PayPal and didnt have enough in my US account to pay for a US $ purchase.

What you would do therefore Jackie is set up a Canadian $ bank account with PayPal in addition to your US $ account with PayPal and without any converting of monies, they will automatically credit your Canadian account with Canadian $ payments and vice versa with the US.

You will have to give them banking info for your Canadian bank account. After that you transfer your Canadian funds from PayPal to your Canadian bank and your US funds to your US bank (just as you are doing now).

I did all of this backwards at the beginning and that is how I learned. I set up only the Canadian acct at my bank and had all PayPal funds converted all the time when depositing to my Canadian acct for the first month.

Now I control the rates I have funds converted by leaving my US $ in the US at my bank there until I can get a better rate on moving them here and I have already received the optimum conversion on selling in Canadian funds by setting out to my customers what they would pay me in Canadian $ for their purchase.

Hope this helps.

You know, if it helps your sales do it, if it doesnt then just keep doing it the way your have been selling. You know the old saying, if it aint broke, why fix it?

I deal in fairly big ticket items so the conversion rate used per unit sold can affect me greatly and while the exchange rate has been hurting my profits at the sales level, I get a bit of a break because I pay a bit less for my imported merchandise.

Malcolm

can-import · ‎11-01-2003

I accept canadian funds only for checks or money orders... Only accept us payments via paypal!

thebidwatcher · ‎11-01-2003

I'll take Canadian Tire Money or Kopeks - as long as they PAY!

Seriously, I would not hesitate to take Canadian money at the rate set at http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/exchform.htm

deltone · ‎11-01-2003

I accept Candadian, in the form of cheques and money orders, but not Paypal.

gloriaguides · ‎11-01-2003

I accept Canadian $$, but give my Canadian buyers the option of deciding what currency they want to pay in. I use the current ebay conversion rate, then with my calculator handy at the end of auctions I convert the US $ amount to Canadian $$ in my EOA email to my buyers. Almost always they use Paypal with US$ or send me a Canadian cheque or MO. I just like them to have as many options as possible. Gloria

aa-surplus · ‎11-01-2003

I take all types of Money as Money is Money and all is good in my store pounds, YEN, EUROS US or CDN.... If you want the business you will accept it if not then someone else will get the business.

just my 2 cents here.

aa-surplus

kpamber · ‎11-01-2003

For heaven's sake, the last time that I checked, I was a Canadian. Of course I take Canadian money!!!
Karen

www-labels4less-com · ‎11-01-2003

The real question is though, if I list in U.S. dollars, why should I lose on an exchange instead of the customer. If they buy an item in the U.S. they certainly can not pay in Canadian.

treasure-pot · ‎11-01-2003

How do you figure you would lose on the exchange?

As a seller you are perfectly within your rights to charge an exchange rate that does not put you out of pocket. Simply because the exchange rate is shown as i.e. 1.31 on XE.com does not mean that you are required to charge that rate. Some sellers charge a rate that is gouging, though. I have seen one as recently as a month ago charging 1.51.

I have long made it a practice to split the difference with my buyers between the "true" exchange rate and what the banks charge. So if it says 1.31 on XE.com I would probably charge 1.3225 (most banks seem to try to get 2-1/2 cents on the dollar). That still gives me a considerably better rate than I would get from TD Waterhouse, TD Canada Trust or, certainly, PayPal.

If the buyer is not happy with that arrangement I explain that they are welcome to send US funds.

Bill

kpamber · ‎11-01-2003

I am the first to admit that I am not a good businesswoman, I just love jewelry. I love to buy it, and I love to sell it. In all honesty, I am not a businesswoman at all...my ebay "business" just allows me to have fun doing what I like the best. If it weren't for my strong base of Canadian customers, I would have been dead in the water this past summer and fall. So, anything that I can do to make them happy is fine with me. They enable me to have fun with my hobby, and even make a bit of money every now and again. Therefore, I am not the best one to answer this question, as my head is full of fluff and sparkly things.
:)